TeachersFirst's Resources on Racism and Discrimination
As educators, it’s our duty to teach our students to respect people of all races, genders, orientations, and cultures, both in our classroom and in the outside world. Racism, sexism, and orientation discrimination can be difficult topics to broach in the classroom but are essential to discuss as students find their voices and form their understanding of the world. In this collection, we share resources about combatting racism, lesson plans about the human cost of discrimination, and additional activities to spark meaningful discussion and encourage students at all grade levels to treat all people with respect.
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White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack - Peggy McIntosh
Grades
10 to 12tag(s): bias (27), character education (77), civil rights (201), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Include this article with others as part of your ongoing professional development about racism and bias. It is also practical to use with older students as part of lessons on racism. Make it easier for students to break down the information in the article through the collaborative use of Fiskkit, reviewed here. Upload the article to Fiskkit and share the link with students. Ask them to highlight areas of interest and add comments. Follow the author's advice and encourage students to draw on personal experiences as part of their discussions. One method for sharing experiences is through the use of short audio discussions using PodcastGenerator, reviewed here.You must be registered and logged in to add items to your favorites.
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'Interrupt The Systems': Robin DiAngelo On 'White Fragility' And Anti-Racism - Ari Shapiro/NPR
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): authors (105), bias (27), character education (77), civil rights (201), difficult conversations (61), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Include this article with your other resources to discuss racism, bias, or when addressing difficult conversations in the classroom. Use a curation tool like Padlet, reviewed here, to share and discuss articles, videos, and online information. As students research and learn more from other authors, help them organize information using Webnote, reviewed here. Webnote is a virtual sticky note (think notecard) taking tool similar to the the physical sticky notes and can be used in place of 3X5 cards used for notetaking by hand. Use Webnote to keep a list of authors and articles, jot down big ideas, and compare suggestions for making positive changes.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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'Me And White Supremacy' Helps You Do The Work Of Dismantling Racism - Eric Deggans/NPR
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): bias (27), black history (131), cross cultural understanding (167), identity (28), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Include this article with your other materials when teaching about racism, bias, identiy, or cross-cultural understanding. The interviewee shares responses in the article by raising questions for individuals to consider and use for reflection. Ask groups of students to take different questions to discuss and respond to as part of your article's discussion. Extend learning by asking them to share their findings by creating concept maps using a tool such as mindmaps, reviewed here, or with a presentation using tool like Prezi, reviewed here. Consider using Wakelet, reviewed here, as a curation tool for collecting and sharing resources with students, and also as a presentation tool for students to share their learning with peers.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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'Not Racist' Is Not Enough: Putting In The Work To Be Anti-Racist - Eric Deggans/NPR
Grades
8 to 12tag(s): bias (27), black history (131), cross cultural understanding (167), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Include this article with your other materials when discussing racism and bias. Engage students in a collaborative discussion of this article and others using Fiskkit, reviewed here. Add a link to the article in Fiskitt, then share with students to add questions and comments as they discuss the article together online. To help students focus on the topic, consider providing a list of possible questions before reading the article. Extend learning by asking students to use graphic organizers such as a 4-Circle Venn Diagram Creator, reviewed here, to compare and contrast information. For example, ask students to explore different media forms such as television, social media, podcasts, and literature and compare different presentations of racism and bias.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Whiteness Project: Millenials in Dallas, Texas - Whitney Dow
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): character education (77), civil rights (201), cross cultural understanding (167), cultures (145), difficult conversations (61), empathy (32), racism (79)
In the Classroom
The Whiteness Project provides a unique and interesting resource for introducing and discussing difficult topics in the classroom, including racism, prejudice, bias, and empathy. Share this site with students and provide them time to listen to some of the conversations and the provided statistics. Encourage students to choose one statistic as a starting point for additional research. For example, one piece of data shared is the number of adults who have two or more races in their background. This provides a starting point for researching race in your community, state, or in the country. As students complete research, ask them to share their findings in a multimedia presentation using a tool like Sway, reviewed here, to add graphs, charts, images, and video that support their findings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Code Switch - National Public Radio (NPR)
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): black history (131), character education (77), difficult conversations (61), native americans (95), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Include this podcast as a resource for lessons on racism, bias, or when facing difficult conversations in the classroom. Be sure to sign up to listen to the newest podcasts on your favorite resource and scroll through the archives to find relevant recordings beginning in 2016. As students listen to podcasts, use Google Slides, reviewed here, to create a reflective document for students to share important information from the podcast along with any questions or information for further research. Use the podcasts as a model for students to create their own podcasts on any topic. Search ReadWriteThink, reviewed here, to find many tools to help students develop interesting podcasts including rubrics, podcast tutorials, and a lesson plan for teaching with podcasts. When students are ready to record and share their podcasts, Buzzsprout, reviewed here, is a free podcasting tool that provides options for scheduling broadcasts, adding chapters, and much more.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Antiracism/Diversity Bookroom - unknown
Grades
K to 6tag(s): black history (131), book lists (165), civil rights (201), identity (28), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Include this slide with your other resources used when teaching racism or discussing self-identity. Share a link with students to use as part of a reading center to offer various read-alouds during center time. For younger students, use Symbaloo, reviewed here, as a bookmarking tool to share other videos, books, and activities as part of your unit on racism or bias. Include videos and books from this presentation as part of a learning unit created using Curipod, reviewed here. Add quizzes, videos, documents, and more to create digital lessons that easily adapt to any student's ability levels. Use this presentation as a model to create an interactive bookroom using books, videos, and additional materials of your choosing. Use The Brown Bookshelf, reviewed here, as an excellent starting point to find additional books featuring Black voices.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Design for Change USA - Design for Change
Grades
K to 8tag(s): character education (77), climate (83), climate change (93), empathy (32), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Bookmark activities and podcasts shared in this site to use when teaching about racial bias, empathy, and climate. Download the educator's toolkit to use as an excellent resource for graphic organizers for students to organize information and plan action steps for multiple different uses. As a culminating activity, engage learners to share their ideas by creating digital books using Book Creator, reviewed here. Have students create books that include images, videos, and written text that share their ideas on steps to take to address social issues.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Making it Meaningful: Interrupting Biased Comments in the Classroom - Rosalind Wiseman
Grades
K to 12tag(s): bullying (50), character education (77), difficult conversations (61), empathy (32), identity (28), racism (79)
In the Classroom
All classrooms face difficult conversations at some point; bookmark this article to use as inspiration on how to address those moments and help students understand and develop empathy for others. Even if you don't have time for an extended lesson, encourage students to think beyond the moment by creating a Padlet, reviewed here, that curates and shares resources based upon your conversation. For example, one topic discussed in the article is "bonding" teasing and "annoying" teasing. Ask students to share examples of teasing in a Padlet that has columns for each form discussed. Use Gravity, reviewed here, as a platform for discussing difficult moments and ask students to share ways to handle biased or insensitive comments.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Talking to White Kids About Race & Racism - Safe Space Radio
Grades
K to 12tag(s): character education (77), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Use this radio broadcast as a resource for addressing racism both in the classroom and at home. The program includes short segments with different guests, use the segments to divide information into smaller topics and big ideas. Share a segment with parents along with guiding questions found in the discussion guide and encourage them to use this information to address race in their home as you also address these ideas at school. Use Padlet, reviewed here, to curate and share additional resources for families. As students reflect upon the questions and discussions, have them use Canva Infographic Maker, reviewed here, to create infographics with their ideas for addressing issues of race and racism. Use Google Drawings, reviewed here, as an alternative for younger students to create and share their thoughts through original drawings.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Say Their Names - Chicago Public Schools
Grades
K to 12tag(s): civil rights (201), courts (20), politics (116), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Bookmark and save this document as a guide to discussing racism in the classroom and as a link to many additional materials. Organize your resources using a curation tool such as Padlet, reviewed here. Use the shelf option in Padlet to create columns to organize information. For example, create columns to sort materials by grade levels or by type of content. As you teach lessons, use a mind mapping tool like Coggle, reviewed here, to organize and share complex information. Extend learning using Adobe Express Video Maker, reviewed here, to create student-produced explainer videos sharing their ideas on addressing racism, media literacy strategies, or steps to help others through difficult times.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Black Illustrations - John D. Saunders
Grades
K to 12In the Classroom
Use images from this collection with any digital projects, and be sure to share with students to use with their digital work. These images are perfect to use with any projects that involve discussions and presentations on racism. Use images in a variety of ways such as to include in explainer videos created with Adobe Creative Cloud Express Video Maker, reviewed here, in digital books made with Book Creator, reviewed here, and in multimedia presentations made with Sway, reviewed here.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Safe@School - Lesson Plans and Toolkits - USC Rossier
Grades
K to 12tag(s): african american (110), hispanic (32), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Use these resources throughout the school year, and especially during difficult conversations, including those about racism, come up in class. Review these resources to prepare yourself for spontaneous discussions about race and differences. You may want to start the school year with a community building activity from this list, from Teampedia, reviewed here. Or skim through the list of resources to find one that will fit your lesson and students.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Anti-Racism For Kids 101: Starting To Talk About Race - Books for Littles
Grades
K to 5This site includes advertising.
tag(s): african american (110), hispanic (32), racism (79), reading lists (78)
In the Classroom
Though this site is affiliated with places to buy books i.e., Amazon, you can also find these books at your public library. An alternative would be to consider a "Wish List," either online with Amazon or publish it in your newsletter that goes home to parents and that you can mention at back-to-school night.After reading the book to the class or a small group, ask students to think about what the author was trying to tell the students about the topic (diversity, etc.). Ask for volunteers to answer. Remind students to be respectful of others' opinions during an open discussion. Use the books suggested on this site to start a discussion as to why the topic is important. After this discussion you may want to use Gravity, reviewed here to have students consolidate their learning by stating what they learned from the book and possibly replying to another classmate's response to the book.
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Teaching About Race and Racism: Lesson Plans Resources - ShareMyLesson
Grades
K to 12tag(s): african american (110), black history (131), hispanic (32), jews (29), racism (79), segregation (18)
In the Classroom
Before sharing this site with students, find a lesson to use as an introduction. Then, show the lesson and its resources on your interactive whiteboard or with a projector, explaining to students all the parts of the lesson as you proceed through it. After this first lesson, enhance student learning by allowing them to choose what lesson or resource they would like to investigate next. Ask students to use Padlet, reviewed here, to register their preference for investigation. If more than one student is interested in the same lesson/resource, allow them to work together. Challenge students to share their extended learning with their peers in a multimedia presentation using Genial.ly, reviewed here, or Sway, reviewed here. Both Sway and Genial.ly will allow your students to create multimedia projects. With Genial.ly you could allow students to choose the type of interactive media they want to develop.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Talking About Race and Privilege: Lesson Plan for Middle and High School Students - National Association of School Psychologists (NASP)
Grades
6 to 12tag(s): civil rights (201), psychology (67), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Include this lesson plan with your other resources when teaching lessons on racism and social injustice, either in-person or through remote or blended learning situations. Instead of using paper charts as mentioned in the lesson, use a digital chart creation resource such as Lucidchart, reviewed here, to create collaborative digital workspaces. Lucidchart includes several features that expand learning through the use of commenting, real-time collaboration, and colorful visual displays. Guide students in how to think through reflection questions using topics available in Thinkalong, reviewed here. Thinkalong offers an interactive multimedia format that guides students through investigations that lead them to contemplate possible solutions to serious problems.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Teaching The New Jim Crow - Tolerance.org
Grades
9 to 12tag(s): civil rights (201), courts (20), politics (116), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Incorporate this free unit as a guide to teaching the sensitive topics of race and justice with or without using the novel. As you begin your unit, use AnswerGarden, reviewed here, as an anonymous brainstorming and response tool. Use AnswerGarden by forming open-ended questions such as "The hard part of talking about racism is..." or "The beneficial part of talking about racism is..." as a way to elicit student ideas without students being concerned about sharing ideas orally with their peers. Use AnswerGarden in various ways throughout the unit to gauge student ideas and responses to lesson topics. All of the lessons include essential questions and big ideas, use Gravity, reviewed here as a collaborative tool to encourage student conversations through Gravity's video response options. Extend learning using podcasts as a format for students to share their learning about race and our justice system. For example, PodcastGenerator, reviewed here, for students to create podcasts to discuss different components of race relations and the justice system.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Treks: American Born Chinese - TeachersFirst
Grades
7 to 12tag(s): cross cultural understanding (167), identity (28), racism (79), virtual field trips (100)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the many suggested classroom uses for this resource found on the Instructional Guide (PDF). Consider using the historical information and primary sources from the book to have students research places and events discussed in the book to create interactive timelines. Find a variety of free online timeline creation tools at located here. Using the map and locales, trace and then calculate distances for some of the locations shared. Use Google My Maps, reviewed here, to create and share custom maps.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Reading Treks: Bud, Not Buddy - TeachersFirst
Grades
3 to 7tag(s): civil rights (201), cultures (145), great depression (30), michigan (4), racism (79)
In the Classroom
Encourage students to understand the Great Depression's impact upon everyday life in the 1930s and explore these periods of history using primary sources. As you discuss the book and incorporate the suggested activities, be sure to include discussions on racism's effect upon the book's characters. Use this curated list of primary source resources to engage students in learning about the past through comparisons to current day life. Use an online tool such a Holt Interactive Graphic Organizers, reviewed here, to create diagrams, mindmaps, and other visual graphic organizers to compare and contrast the different periods. Engage students as they explore events shared in the book through the use of bite-sized podcasts using Acast, reviewed here. Synth is an easy to use audio tool that encourages students to share their thoughts and learning reflections.Add your comments below (available only to members) | Become a Member
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Case Maker - Bean Creative
Grades
6 to 8tag(s): black history (131), civil rights (201), constitution (92), democracy (20), elections (82), freedom of speech (14), immigrants (34), immigration (68), inquiry (24), media literacy (107), politics (116), racism (79), Research (84), world war 2 (161)
In the Classroom
Take advantage of the free materials on this site to encourage debate and discussion within your current civics lessons and lessons on civil rights and racism. Introduce Case Maker by showing the class the student introductory video. Each lesson includes primary sources to use when responding to prompts; ask students to find and share additional primary sources to include in their response to each question. Instead of just creating a list of additional resources, engage students and augment classroom technology use by sharing additional resources using Padlet, reviewed here. Padlet offers features for adding comments; ask students to use this feature to indicate important information found on the document. Enhance learning by finding and sharing videos that support the topic being discussed. Use edpuzzle, reviewed here, to add comments and question prompts for students. Upon completing student projects, extend learning by having stidents share their thoughts through a podcast featuring students' challenge solutions. Be sure to include a group of students in each podcast featuring various points of view and their backup documentation. Try using Acast, reviewed here, to create student podcasts.Comments
Great variety of resources!Toni, , Grades: 5 - 8
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